Body Image and other Random Thoughts

[DirtDiva]

Well, I'm a GAP size six. I don't have any other pants that have US sizings in them as well as UK ones (which seem to be the same as NZ sizings). It's all a crap-shoot really, isn't it? Not hard to wind up with clothes in three different sizes all from the same store, in my experience.

[runnergirl]

sizes are a joke!

I can wear a size 4 at banana republic, but need a 10 in most patagonia pants. The rest of my clothes are in between, but a 4 is so far from a 10 it seems a little crazy!

[Selkie]

As I said recently in another thread, Brava Mz. V! I remember those photos you posted---you are beautiful and from everything you've written here, I suspect you have an adoring husband (no reason to wonder why, either).

I hate the media for the number it does on women--ok, you can weigh 90 lbs, not counting your breast implants, and then you're considered beautiful. No, not until you get your nose fixed, lips pumped w/collagen, and forehead injected with Botox. So let's see, "beautiful" means you can't eat like a normal person, have to work out 4 hours a day, and then, schedule "maintenance" surgery at least once a year. How can anyone be happy, having to live like that? I don't view models/actresses as 100% real people anymore. Remember J-Lo with brown hair and a little meat on her? I thought she was stunning then. Now she seems to look like every other blonde celebrity female.

[Veronica]

Thanks! - I'd forgotten about the pictures. Thom loved the one I picked by the way.

I just wish someone had told me when I was younger, and that I had believed them, that what you see in the media is not "perfection." Bodies come in all makes and models. The important thing is to treat the one you have well and to rejoice in what it can do. Reading about the difficulty others are having with their image, just made me want to say, "Hey you're okay!"

V.

[yellow]

I don't know many (any?) women who haven't struggled with this, even those that are chronically thin. I had troubles as an adolescent (I remember so clearly being labeled "thunder thighs" in high school) but now I try not to think about it. My weapons:

• no scales allowed in the house!
• no full length mirrors!
• judge by how the clothes fit!
• direct stress to the abs...build core strength without even really trying!

I pretty much only get weighed when I go to the doc. There is a scale at the gym I go to and I weighed myself once...and decided not to do that again. I'm in pretty good shape, my clothes fit, and I'm feeling pretty strong, yet the number that popped up made me think I should be thinner, in better shape, whatever. I've been both in better shape and in worse shape. But now that I'm older and a little bit wiser I know that if I were to cut back on calories to lose that extra (perceived?) weight, I wouldn't be able to do what I do. That's just how it is. I don't wear short shorts. Never have, never will.

HOWEVER, these days I am pretty gripped about this whole aging thing. I look in the mirror and see skin that has lost elasticity, lots of sun damage, bags, and wrinkles. I wish someone would have lectured me on skin care when I was 20. Oy! Not that it probably would have made a difference since I spent my entire childhood in the sun and continue to participate in activities that are hard on the skin. My 18 year old neice is prolly tired of hearing my "wear sunscreen" lecture.

So I think I've come to grips with the body image/body shape bit...now I need to learn how to live with my aging image in the mirror. I've made DH promise that he won't leave me for some young, wrinkle-free, fly fishing wonder, skinny-legged girl. We're going nymph fishing tomorrow so I can keep my edge!

[Veronica]

But Yellow - you're one of those adorable, perky people!

V.